Language, Dialects, Idiolect, and Varieties

LANGUAGE: 

•“A code whereby ideas…are represented through a conventional, rule-based, system of arbitrary symbols for communication.”

Language vs. Dialect

Usually “language” refers to the DOMINANT dialect, which is perceived as closest to the STANDARD form used in writing.

We often think of dialects of a language as being mutual intelligible with one another (speakers of each dialect can understand speakers of the other dialects and vice versa)

Popular understanding:

1.      A dialect is a type of language spoken by uneducated or country people. It is a corrupt form of the “correct” language. It is derived from  the “corrrect” form. Those who speak the language “correctly” do not speak “dialect”.

Or:

2.      A language is a collection of dialects, one of which has been adopted as the standard variety, which people think of as “the language”. The standard variety is simply another dialect.

Dialects (Varieties)

A dialect is a regionally or socially distinctive variety of a language, identified by a particular set of words (vocabulary) and grammatical structures, as well as a certain phonology.

To avoid the stigma of “dialect,” most linguists use the word “linguistic variety” instead

Prestige and Stigma

·         A prestige variety is a dialect associated with mainstream social prestige – for example a dialect that sounds “educated” or “sophisticated”

·         A stigmatized variety is a dialect associated with negative features, from a mainstream social perspective:  e.g. “uneducated” “lower class”

Regional Dialect Classes

•      General American (Standard American)

–     Pacific NW, Pacific SW, Central, North Central

•      Eastern American

–     New England, New York City, Mid-Atlantic, Western Pennsylvania

•      Southern American

–     South Central, Southern, Appalachian

All languages consist of dialects (a language is a group of dialects; to speak a language is to speak a dialect of that language). Therefore, everyone speaks at least one dialect. Dialect differences are usually minor and dialects of a language are usually mutually intelligible. Dialects are geographically, socially, politically determined.

Dialects can vary with respect to:

ú   Phonology – pronunciation or the sound system of a language, e.g. r-less dialects of East Coast, pin/pen

ú  Morphology – the smallest meaningful units of a language, e.g., ‘He don’t know.’ ‘The house needs painted.’

ú  Syntax – grammar or the words are put together to form sentences, e.g., ‘We prevented the house (from) being destroyed.’

ú  Lexicon – vocabulary or the words of a language (e.g.,         lift/elevator, truck/lorry, pail/bucket)

• Some linguists distinguish between ‘dialect’ and ‘accent’:

ú  Different dialects have differences of grammar and vocabulary;

ú  Different accents have differences of pronunciation;

ú  Every user of English uses one dialect or another, and one accent or another.

IDIOLECT:

Each individual’s own dialect, affected by numerous variables.

•      Where have you lived?

•      Where did your parents grow up?

•      Who were your friends? Where did they grow up?

•      What languages do you know?

REGISTER:

            Styles of speech, adjusted to the needs of our listeners

How does your speech change when you talk to

•      Your pastor?

•      Your mom?

•      Your roommate?

•      Your college professor?

•      Your waitress?

•      Your best friend?

•      Your 3 year old niece?

What is Standard English?

•      What it is not:

–     An arbitrary, a priori description of English

–     The usage of a particular group

–     The statistically most frequently occurring forms of English

–     A form imposed upon those who use it.

Definition of Standard English:

• A particular dialect of English, being the only non-localized dialect, of global currency without significant variation, universally accepted as the appropriate educational target in teaching English; which may be spoken with an unrestricted choice of accent.

• Strevens defines ‘Standard English’ as that dialect of English that is not associated with any particular locality, and therefore occurs in any and every locality.  It is not paired with a specific accent.

PENDIDIKAN BAHASA INGGRIS UNTUK ANAK USIA DINI

Bahasa Inggris telah menjadi bahasa dunia yang mendominasi era komunikasi untuk menghubungkan dan mentransfer ilmu ke seluruh dunia. Seperti yang dikatakan oleh Fromkin, “English has been called ‘the lingua franca of the world’” (1990: 259). Kedudukan Bahasa Inggris di Indonesia merupakan bahasa asing pertama (the first foreign language). Kedudukan tersebut berbeda dengan bahasa kedua. Mustafa (2007) dalam hal ini menyatakan bahwa bahasa kedua adalah bahasa yang dipelajari anak setelah bahasa ibunya dengan ciri bahasa tersebut digunakan dalam lingkungan masyarakat sekitar. Sedangkan bahasa asing adalah bahasa negara lain yang tidak digunakan secara umum dalam interaksi sosial. Penelitian menyatakan kebermanfaatan menguasai bahasa asing lebih dini, dinyatakan Mustafa (2007), bahwa anak yang menguasai bahasa asing memiliki kelebihan dalam hal intelektual yang fleksibel, keterampilan akademik, berbahasa dan sosial. Selain itu, anak akan memiliki kesiapan memasuki suatu konteks pergaulan dengan berbagai bahasa dan budaya.

Periode paling sensitif terhadap bahasa dalam kehidupan seseorang adalah antara umur dua sampai tujuh tahun. Segala macam aspek dalam berbahasa harus diperkenalkan kepada anak sebelum masa sensitif ini berakhir. Pada periode sensitif ini sangat penting diperkenalkan cara berbahasa yang baik dan benar, karena keahlian ini sangat berguna untuk berkomunikasi dengan lingkungannya (Maria Montessori,1991). Berdasarkan teori tersebut, adalah tepat jika bahasa Inggris mulai diperkenalkan kepada anak sedini mungkin. Mengingat bahasa Inggris merupakan bahasa asing pertama di Indonesia, maka proses pembelajarannya harus dilakukan secara bertahap. Pemilihan materi yang sesuai dengan usia anak dan juga efektif untuk perkembangan kognitif bahasa anak serta situasi belajar yang menyenangkan haruslah menjadi perhatian utama dalam berhasilnya suatu proses pembelajaran. Keberhasilan proses pembelajaran bahasa Inggris pada anak usia dini tentunya dipengaruhi oleh banyak faktor, antara lain:

1. Guru yang berkualitas, guru yang dapat menghidupkan proses kegiatan belajar mengajar.

2. Sumber dan fasilitas pembelajaran yang memadai dan memenuhi syarat (adekuat).

3. Kurikulum yang baik, sederhana, dan menarik (atraktif).

Di sisi lain perlu dipahami bahwa usia dini adalah usia bermain. Setiap anak adalah pribadi yang unik dan dunia bermain merupakan kegiatan yang serius namun mengasyikan bagi mereka. Maka pendekatan yang tepat perlu diciptakan oleh seorang pendidik agar proses pembelajaran bahasa Inggris lebih menarik dan menyenangkan tanpa meninggalkan kaidah-kaidah bahasa yang benar. Pendekatan yang digunakan hendaknya sejalan dengan tujuan pengenalan bahasa pada umumnya. Tujuan tersebut ialah supaya anak dapat memahami cara berbahasa yang baik dan benar, berani mengungkapkan ide atau pendapatnya dan dapat berkomunikasi dengan lingkungannya. Dalam pembelajaran bahasa Inggris banyak metode dan teknik yang dapat digunakan, diantaranya melalui:

a. Story Telling (Bercerita)

b. Role Play (Bermain Peran)

c. Art and Crafts (Seni dan Kerajinan Tangan)

d. Games (Permainan),

e. Show and Tell,

f. Music and Movement (Gerak dan Lagu) dimana termasuk di dalamnya

− Singing (Nyanyian)

− Chants and Rhymes (Nyanyian Pendek dan Sajak), dan sebagainya.

Metode dan teknik yang hendak digunakan sebaiknya dipilih dan disesuaikan dengan kemampuan yang ingin dicapai. Profesionalisme seorang pendidik di dalam mengembangkan dan memanfaatkan metode dan teknik tersebut sangatlah dibutuhkan agar proses belajar mengajar dapat berjalan lebih baik. Metode dan proses pengajaran dalam konteks yang komunikatif meliputi konteks situasi sosial, kultural, permainan, nyanyian dan musik, pembacaan cerita, pengalaman-pengalaman kesenian, kerajinan dan mengutamakan gerakan fisik adalah metode yang sangat sesuai dan efektif jika digunakan dalam proses belajar bahasa Inggris khususnya bagi anak usia dini.

PARALLELISM

      According to Fabb: 1997, Parallelism is sameness relationship between two section of a text, example; "out of sight-out of mind". Parallelism is the most useful and flexible aspect of poetic language (Leech: 1969).  Parallelism is the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning or meter. Parallelism examples are found in literary works as well as in ordinary conversations. This method adds balance and rhythm to sentences giving ideas a smoother flow and thus can be persuasive because of the repetition it employs.

      In literature, parallelism is used in different ways to impress upon the readers in order to convey messages or moral lessons.

      The use of parallel structures in speech or writing allows speakers and writers to maintain a consistency within their work and create a balanced flow of ideas. Moreover, it can be employed as a tool for persuasion as well because of the repetition it uses.

      Parallelism can be divided into;

- Phonological parallelism

Repetition of similar sounds includes; assonance, alliteration, consonance and rhyme.

* Assonance is repetition of vowel, example on Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem “The Raven”, is: “the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain.” (repetition of “ur” sound). 

* Alliteration is repetition of consonant sounds at the begining of the words, for example in Harry Potter series, “Severus Snape”, “Luna Love good”, “Rowena Raven claw”, etc. 

* Consonance is repetition of the same  consonant several times in a row, but this time the consonants can appear anywhere in the words, example “Humpty Dumpty”. 

* Rhyme is repetition of similar sounding words. There are a lot of different types of rhyme, but usually they are things like “tap” and “map”; “best and worst”.

- Morphological parallelism

Morphological parallelism is the repetition of morphemes, this type is less used than syntactic parallelism, example “I kissed thee ere I killed thee” (repetition in tensed morpheme “ed”)

- Syntactic / grammatical parallelism

This type focuses more grammatical. From Shakespear, Othello:Act III:Sc. III:pg.358 (1985) “I kissed thee ere I killed thee”. Another example from novel “To the light

* Sentence parallelism: ....that was what she was thinking, this was what she was doing...(113)

* Main-clause parallelism:...she would never for a single second regret her decision, evade difficulties, or slur over duties.(11)

* Sub-clause parallelism: As summer neared, as the evenings lengthened, there cameto...(179)

* Phrase parallelism: Once in the middle of the night with a roar, with a rupture, as after a centuries...(177)

* Word parallelism:...able only to go on watching, asking, wondering.(198)

- Semantic / lexical parallelism

Semantic parallelism is repetition of lexical items. The lexical equivalents need to have the same syntactic function or parts of speech in the two sentences in which they occur. It may identical in form and in meaning, or they may be related by lexico-semantic relationship, such as synonymy, hyponymy and antonymy. For example: “Mary likes hiking, swimming and riding bicycle.”;“He is talented, intelligent and charming.”

THE SYLLABUS

A syllabus is a document which says what will be learnt. A syllabus is a document that a teacher writes and distributes to provide students with an overview of a college course. The syllabus is usually distributed on the first day of class. It contains several parts:

1. The course title and meeting times
2. Topics and chapters covered
3. Objectives
4. Indicators
5. Test dates
6. Required texts and other supplies

Syllabus design and the considerable weight of authority that syllabuses have, we might usefully consider whether they are necessary. There are several reasons why we should have a syllabus.

1.       Language is a complex entity.

2.      A syllabus also gives moral support to the teacher and learner, in that makes the language learning task appear manageable.

3.       Returning to our analogy of learning as a journey, so that teacher and learner not only have an idea of where they are going, but how they might get there.

4.       A syllabus provides a set of criteria for materials selection and/ or writing.

5.       In that teaching is intended to lead a learner to a particular state of knowledge,

The main purpose of a syllabus is to break down the mass of knowledge to be learnt into manageable units. This breakdown (unless it is to be completely random) has to base on certain criteria:            a.   Topic Syllabus

b.      Structural / situational syllabus

c.       Functional / national syllabus

d.      Skills syllabus

e.       Situational syllabus

f.       Functional / task-based syllabus

g.      Discourse / skills syllabus

h.      Skills and strategies

Each of the syllabuses shown represents a valid attempt to break down the mass of a particular area of knowledge into manageable units. Each carries certain assumptions about the nature of language and learning. The syllabuses shown above are as important for what they don’t say, as for what they do say, because they only show one or two of the elements of the materials. Any teaching materials must, in reality, operate several syllabuses at the same time.

Role a Syllabus Play in the Course Design Process.

a.                A language-centered approach

Analyze target situation. In this approach the syllabus is prime generator of the teaching materials.

b.                 A skills-centered approach

Analyze target need. An alternative approach is needed in a skills-centered syllabus, since the aim is not to present and practice language items, but rather to provide opportunities for learners to employ and evaluate the skills and strategies considered necessary in the target situation. A skills-centered approach will often lay great store by the use of ‘authentic’ texts.

c.                 A Learning-centered approach

It will be noticeable that in the two approaches described so far the learning activities (task, exercises, and teaching techniques) are almost the last factor to be considered. This may produce materials which faithfully reflect the syllabus in language or skills content, but it has a very constricting effect on the methodology.

In learning centered approach the methodology cannot be just grafted on to the end of an existing selection of syllabuses items and texts: it must be considered right from the start.

The ESP syllabus is, as we have seen, usually derived from a detailed analysis of the language features of the target situation. It is the detail of this analysis which ion our view produces the restricting influence on the methodology.

d.                The Post hoc approach

Write cosmetic syllabus satisfy sponsor, teachers, students, et al. Write materials on undefined criteria. There is, of course, one last way of using the syllabus, which is probably more widespread.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Classroom management is talked about how and why the teacher might use the equipment available to them focus on the planning, interaction and language, about managing the planning before a lesson and managing interaction during a lesson.

A.    PLANNING

Teacher need an overview of the goals they and their students’ aim to achieve over the series of lessons, or a whole course. So, by skim through course book, or read through the material and the teacher’s guide in some detail at least to the end of the next unit in order to have an overview of what is coming up.

In some teaching situation, the teacher pauses after every few lessons and review and record what have been covered together with students. The teacher will give form to what has been done and connections will begins to appear. It will help students to remember and consolidate new language. In another case, some teacher use questionnaire to finding out about students’ need and preference, their background and motivation or called as needs assessment. It can inform the teacher and raise students’ awareness of the situation in which they use English, the skills they need and what is most important for them to work on. This should help with planning a course, choosing supplementary to add to what a course book offers, and help students to focus their learning efforts or usually called as lesson plan.

Before making lesson plan, teachers should find out exactly what their lesson plans should contain, how they should be laid out and how they will assessed. Teachers should clarify these three questions to support their lesson plan.

1.      What are the aims of the lesson?

2.      How am I going to achieve these aims?

3.      How will I know if I have achieved my aims or not?

B.     INTERACTION

It is mean who is speaking to whom. Teacher sometimes gives instructions to the whole class (T®Ss) and sometimes to individual (T®S). Sometimes, there will be an exchange between the teacher and the whole class (T«Ss) and sometimes the teacher will tell one student to say something to another (T®S®S). Sometimes students will communicate directly with each other (S«S).

1.      Teacher to students

The teacher leads the class in an activity, and this is where there is most control over the lesson and over what students say. The language teacher uses are first, experienced teachers grade their language to suit the level of the students they are teaching. Second, a very common classroom interaction is where the teacher asks question, the student or students respond and the teacher give some sort of indication as to whether the answer was acceptable or not. This is not good because the students have a passive rather than active. Moreover, there are few opportunities for most of the students to say something because often only one student can speak at a time.

2.      Student (s) to student (s)

Interaction between student (s) to student (s) is applied in pair work and group work. But some teachers worry about their lack of control when they use pair work or group work. Here are some suggestions:

·         Explain to the students that by working in pair or in group, they will have more opportunities to use the language, and without the pressure of speaking in front of the whole class and the teacher.

·         Starts the group works with ask students to do an exercise individually and then check it with their neighbor.

·         Another alternative is to start with an open pair - two students doing an activity in front of the rest  of the class before moving to closed pairs, where all students work in pairs without students listening.

So far, we have discussed that pair work and group work is almost same because they are S«S interaction. However it is not same. In pair work, when one student is silent, the other person is usually called on to speak. In group work, one student is dominating, or for another to remain silent and let the others carry out the task. The teacher needs to take action if one group member is dominating the interaction when other would like to speak but are not getting a chance. 

C.     FIRST LANGUAGE AND SECOND LANGUAGE

In classrooms where learners come from different language backgrounds, the teacher has no choice but to communication somehow in English. In this situation, we have found that even if we do speak the language of some of the students, we prefer not to, as it threatens the unity of the class.

You can speak simply and clearly, support what you say with gestures, facial expressions, and actions, but insist on running the class in English. At first you may meet resistance and/or giggles, but it is worth persevering because if you can engage your students in this small, English using community, you have made a most important contribution to either learning. However:

Ø  Do not insist on the use of English if the level of frustration on a particular occasion becomes too high.

Ø  In a monolingual class, use your knowledge of the shared L1 where this can help students to see useful comparisons or contrasts with English.

Ø  Try not to be discouraged if the students continue to use their first language among themselves.

The Importance of Learning English

Language is the source of communication. Its the way through which we share our ideas and thoughts with others. There are uncountable languages in this world. Because every country has their own national language, then they have different local languages spoken and understood by their people in different regions.

English language is one tool to establish our viewpoint. We can learn from others experience. We can check the theories of foreigners against our experience. We can reject the untenable and accept the tenable. We can also propagate our theories among the international audience and readers. 

English may not be the most spoken language in the world, but it is the official language in a large number of countries. It is estimated that the number of people in the world that use in English to communicate on a regular basis is 2 billion!

English is the dominant business language and it has become almost a necessity for people to speak English if they are to enter a global workforce, research from all over the world shows that cross-border business communication is most often conducted in English. Its importance in the global market place therefore cannot be understated, learning English really can change your life.

Many of the world’s top films, books and music are published and produced in English. Therefore by learning English you will have access to a great wealth of entertainment and will be able to have a greater cultural understanding.

Most of the content produced on the internet (50%) is in English. So knowing English will allow you access to an incredible amount of information which may not be otherwise available!

Although learning English can be challenging and time consuming, we can see that it is also very valuable to learn and can create many opportunities!

Template for Review of Journal Article

Name :
Title of Article :
Author and Brief background :
Journal Title and Vol Number :
Date of submission :

MY REVIEW
Introduction 
 Give an overview of the article.

Development 
 What are the key points in this article?
 What did I find striking or interesting about these key points?
 How relevant are the key points to my role as a teacher?
 What do I agree or disagree with in this article?
 How has this article influenced me in thinking deeply about my values, beliefs and
assumptions?
 How specifically will I be able to use the information and knowledge to improve or
enhance my teaching and learning in terms of approaches, strategies, methods or
techniques?

 Conclusion 
 What new insights/discoveries have I made in relation to my role as a teacher in ITE?
 How will I make use of this new knowledge in future?
 What further information or knowledge should I seek to expand my knowledge in
relation to the contents of this article?

SPECIFIC PURPOSE LANGUAGE ABILITY

The goal of specific language ability is to work toward a clearer understanding of the construct of specific purpose language ability. That especially considers the relationship between language ability and specific purpose background knowledge. The framework communicative ability combines Bachman and Palmer’s formulation of the contents of language knowledge with of modified formulation of strategic competence (chapelle and Douglas:1993).

Strategic competence serves as a mediator and interpreter between the external situational context and the internal language and background knowledge required to respond to the communicative situation.

Between context and language knowledge, strategic competence is assumed to operate in all communicative situations. However, it may not be necessary for certain testing purposes to measure strategic competence.

As Hymes (19971, 19972) originally formulated the concept, communicative competence involves judgment about what is systemically possible (in other words, what the grammar will allow), psycholinguistically feasible (what the main will allow), and socioculturally appropriate (what society will allow) about the probability of occurrence of a linguistic event and what is entailed in the actual accomplishment of it.

A final aspect in the definition of specific purpose language ability is that the construct contain, by definition, specific purpose background knowledge.  The very essence of specific purpose language test is that they requiring the test takers to engage themselves authentically in test task that are demonstrablying related to the target language use situation, and, therefore, relevant background knowledge will necessary be called upon in the interpretation of the communicative situation and the formulation of a response. 

“NEED ANALYSIS“

To analyze learning needs, we need to know what "needs" it really is. According to John Munby needs is highly detailed set of procedures for discovering target situation needs. It consists of a range of questions about key communication variables (topic, participants,medium,etc) which can be used to identify the target needs of any group of learners. In short, the need is all the ability, facilities and participants into a single unit for produce the linguistic feature of target language. In analyze learning need there are three kinds of Target Need. They are : Necesseties, Lack, and Wants. That is important part in ESP itself. As we know that ESP is different with scholl or class agenda. ESP is English Specifics Purposes. The first target need is Necessities. Necessities is a type of needs which is crucial or important. Because here, learners should know and understand what they have mastered in accordance with their target situation. It is intended that all learning to be more affective. The Second is Lack. Analize the necessities is not enough, we also need to analize what the learners have learned, known, mastered and what the learners less understand. So, we can decide which of the necessities the learners lack. Something that have to be underline is when the target proficiency is not matched againts with learners’ proficiency, it will cause the lacks. when all of learning componen including learners, sponsor and teacher aware of the learnes’ weaknesses, they will be more focused on the material that became the weaknesess and will look for the reason, the way how the material can be given very well. The last is Wants. So far we already know what the "necessaries" and "lack", but the effectiveness of ESP is also depend on the motivation of learners which would be very influential on the desire to learn and their concentration.
Of existing requirements, students will find out what he really needed besides what he got from the course. This self-awareness is influenced by the environment and circumstances that he faced. There are some ways to gathering the information of need analysis. The most frequent ways are questionnaires, interviews, observations, data collection and informal consultation with sponsors, learners and others. To analyse learning need, we have to attend to : Why are learners taking the course?, How do the learners learn?, What resources are available?, and Who are the learners?